Supply chain management strategies of agricultural corporations: A resource dependency approach

The Australian federal government introduced the deregulation of the wheat export market in 2008, as a means of creating a competitive wheat industry. However, this initiative did not sufficiently consider the potential for agricultural corporations to proactively seek to shape their environment. Utilizing resource dependency theory, this article analyses the strategies employed by agricultural corporations, such as acquisitions, integration and geographic expansion, to develop control of supply chains and markets, and mitigate risks associated with resource supply and competition. Despite leading to a concentration of markets and consolidation within supply chains, agribusiness corporations manipulate discourse around food to promote these strategies as necessary to enhance global food security. Furthermore, this article analyses the use of political lobbying by agricultural corporations to create a regulatory environment, which enables integration and expansion. This article enables resource dependency theory to be more directly observable, through analysing tangible examples of these associated practices, implemented by agricultural corporations. In addition, this article contends that through heightening awareness of how firms respond to deregulation, resource dependency theory provides the tools to reflect critically on the aims and methods of government deregulation initiatives